All Things Educational

[Irving]

I thought that the point of the MMPI is that it couldn't be effectively manipulated, unless you practically wrote the test.

[Vic Tory]

I thought that the point of the MMPI is that it couldn't be effectively manipulated, unless you practically wrote the test.

That was my point. The MMPI authors were "pushing" the algorithms to discover more abnormalities than were factual.

[cstone]

That was my point. The MMPI authors were "pushing" the algorithms to discover more abnormalities than were factual.

That would explain those extra hours on the box. I was abnormal.

[Vic Tory]

Another bizarre factoid: The Wonderlic test, used by the NFL, (at least used to have) built-in "adverse impact" (A fancy way of saying bias.) against ... ethnic minorities.

What is the ethnicity of the majority of players in the Not For Long...?

Sorry about this tangent. I'll try not to do that again.

[clodhopper]

I got an engineering degree from CSM. I breezed through high school math & science, struggled in English and arts. Just didn't care to look at a picture or listen to music for any other reason than to enjoy it. Didn't care about hidden messages or meaning.

Dont know if I have ADD or not, but I can't read for fun. After a few pages, I'm lost as to what's going on, since I had already forgotten who was who. Movies are completely different. I can never remember peoples names in real life, but know them from their face. Sometimes a problem.

Engineering (math & science) came easy as I could figure out how things worked and solve problems. Still do.

I tried helping my 5th grade nefew with a math assignment and was completely lost in the methods he was taught to use. Showed him the way I learned, and he said my way made more sense.

Learned basic welding for a bridge class. Learned basic mechanics and carpentry from my dad and trade classes in HS.

I'm stuck in an office now. Troubleshooting others work and supervising younger engineers. One thing I have noticed is the constant need for validation. They dont like failure at all. I let them fail to learn why. They also dont like working alone. I loved working alone, probably because I worked with so many freeloaders riding my coat tails. I even had a clueless boss who had me respond to enquiries and then cut and paste and take credit. That ended when I caught on and sent a response that was nonsense and horribly written with many misspellings. He didt review it before cut & pasting with his name. CCed me in the response and I responded all with the correct answer.

There are times i wish i didn't get into engineering and became an equipment operator. That looks fun digging, drilling or demoing. Demoing looks especially fun.

You and I must be twins separated at birth.

[Aloha_Shooter]

Do you want a degree? What kind, and why?

I have a B.S.E. in computer science and engineering and a M.S. in applied physics plus practical systems engineering knowledge from my career. I decided a while back that while my ego wanted a doctorate, pursuing one was a waste of time and money.

Do you like to attend classes, whether your career needs them or not?

I like classes if they are germane to helping me solve problems. I hate taking something just to check a box.

What's your favorite subject, and why?

No real "favorite" subject as I'm interested in a wide variety of things from military history to constitutional law to basic science to applied engineering and science to literature to ...

Do you continue studies on your own time?

I read a lot on my own time, I don't know that you'd call it studying. I tend to be somewhat of an omnivore academically and am not disciplined enough to stick with just one subject enough to call it "study" -- yet another reason I decided not to pursue a doctorate.

Do you have memories of a favorite teacher you'd like to share? Are you seeking a class on a particular subject?

Lots of great teachers over the years. My Biology teacher in high school outlined theories of creation from Biblical to spontaneous creation to natural selection then said that students were free to believe in Biblical theories but that we wouldn't spend any more time on them because we couldn't test them scientifically. A computer engineering prof gave us a Poet's Guide to Digital Circuitry on day 1 then proceeded to tax us mentally by giving us homework involving trinary logic.

Afraid I'm not a parent so not qualified to answer the second set of questions although I have observed the homeworks and reasoning capabilities of my Boy Scouts over the years. It seems to me that subject matter is much more politically influenced these days. I was never impressed with instruction in "critical reasoning" even when I was in school but it seems even less prevalent today than it was 35 years ago. It seems like there's a lot more female teachers having sexual relations with male students today than there was when I was a kid -- can't talk to male teachers with female students although I'm sure there was some of that.

My sister and her husband go to great lengths to supplement their sons' education. It has paid off with one of the two but it's been a lot of work for them. They were a lot more involved in their sons' education than I remember my parents being in mine but that might be because I did fairly well anyway. I offered to help but their sons were more interested in me taking them shooting than quizzing them on math or science.

[MrPrena]

I have a B.S.E. in computer science and engineering and a M.S. in applied physics plus practical systems engineering knowledge from my career. .

It is extremely rare (only seen 1 out of ~600+) to see engineer or engineering grad studying phys/applied phys for masters. At least schools ive attended.
My guess is you studied a lot of phys and more math than engineering core requirement?

[Martinjmpr]

I was a liberal arts major (history) as an undergrad, since I had always been a history buff (dad being a historian and history professor probably helped.) Mom was a librarian so I always grew up in a house filled with books.

Never really took to math or science. When I got into college I took the absolute bare minimum of math (never got past algebra) and science (earth science, of course!) that I needed to graduate.

The funny thing is, within the past 4 years or so I've started reading a lot more history (I've always read but I read what I want to now, much more than I ever read when I was in school.) I've always been fascinated by the Cold War (being both a veteran and, in some ways, a product of it) that led me to reading about the history of the making of the Atomic Bomb.

Which, in turn, led me to read up on the history of the making of the hydrogen bomb, which in turn led me to start reading up on atomic physics, a subject I had absolutely ZERO interest in previously.

And now I find physics fascinating. I've literally spent hours on the internet looking up Wikipedia (and other sites) on the subject of atomic physics, watching YouTube video lectures, etc.

My biggest obstacle in studying physics is that I never took chemistry. If I had unlimited time I might try to audit some basic chemistry or physics courses. I sometimes wish there were "physics for dummies" courses I could audit. I guess I can probably find some on YouTube if I look.

Math still holds zero interest for me but I find physics to be amazing.

[Aloha_Shooter]

It is extremely rare (only seen 1 out of ~600+) to see engineer or engineering grad studying phys/applied phys for masters. At least schools ive attended.
My guess is you studied a lot of phys and more math than engineering core requirement?

Not really but the curriculum in the applied physics concentration was related to my career and my first couple of jobs gave me additional training that was relevant to the degree. In addition, I had always been interested in the general sciences so read quite a few articles in Scientific American (before they went politically correct), Timothy Ferris' books, etc. before taking the degree so much of the coursework became a matter of learning which formulas or mathematical techniques to apply in which circumstances. In retrospect, I was minimally prepared for the degree but I toughed it out and earned it the hard way. Applied physics is generally more applicable to hard engineering backgrounds IMO but I can see where theoretical physics would be a stretch with an engineering academic background. In addition, my alma mater taught engineering fields as "science and engineering" so you always had to have theory supporting the hard practical engineering and vice-versa.

[Aloha_Shooter]

My biggest obstacle in studying physics is that I never took chemistry. If I had unlimited time I might try to audit some basic chemistry or physics courses. I sometimes wish there were "physics for dummies" courses I could audit. I guess I can probably find some on YouTube if I look.

Look up the Feynman Lectures. CalTech just made them public (there's even an app for your phone). The books can be expensive and hard to find but you can find CDs of his lectures and videos on YouTube.